January 26, 2026
The Flyers could've folded.
Wednesday night's meltdown in Utah could've sent them into a further spiral, and their season along with it, especially with the league-best Colorado Avalanche waiting for them up next on Friday.
But they took it the other way.
Owen Tippett came up with a hat trick, Denver Barkey scored his second career NHL goal, Bobby Brink chipped a puck to the front in, and Matvei Michkov netted a badly needed two as the Flyers piled it on in Colorado with a 7-3 win.
It was a big-time answer at a point where it felt like the Flyers were about to sink, and with some even wanting to see them do it, but "we scratched and clawed," head coach Rick Tocchet said afterward.
They're still alive.
"As a group, it goes without saying that games like last game can't happen," Tippett said. "We knew we needed to have a bounce-back game, and everyone brought their best tonight. Good game all-around."
But just a rung in the ladder now of a steep climb they put in front of themselves.
As huge as the win over the Avs was, the Flyers did still lose seven of their last nine through the month to send them sliding to the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
They're 24-17-9 for 57 points as of Monday morning. The Wild Card has a bit of separation now, with the Bruins (62 points) and the Canadiens (63 points) occupying the two spots, while the Panthers are in line ahead of the Flyers at 59 points.
The Flyers are closer to third place in the Metropolitan Division, which the Islanders are holding with their own 59 points, and with the two set to face off Monday night in the Flyers' return home to Xfinity Mobile Arena back in South Philly.
It'll be a game that carries a four-point swing in the standings, the same type of one that's been on the table for the Flyers a few times already this month, but that they just couldn't take amid their downswing.
But for their sake, that has to shift now.
The Flyers have six games, including the Islanders on Monday night, before the Olympic break kicks in. Then they'll come back with the trade deadline looming on March 6, followed by the final sprint down the stretch of the regular season.
The next week or so isn't fully a make-or-break, but it can do the Flyers a lot of favors before the Olympics if the Avs win can serve as a spark.
"I hope so," defenseman Travis Sanheim said postgame Friday night. "Those are the messages that we had yesterday, just the mindset of what we need every game against every opponent. Obviously, we lost it a little bit there with Utah, [but] we've been a team that's answered every time we've faced it."
Time to answer again.
A few other thoughts on the Flyers...
Tippett was the clear star of Friday night with the hat trick on the road, and it was all with him skating at his best.
He was carrying the puck down the ice with power, finding his way into those soft spaces, and unleashing a strong, lightning-quick shot with pinpoint accuracy.
Then, for that third goal, he was the checker up high on the penalty kill, got his stick in the way of Cale Makar's pass, and got the jump to take off all alone on the breakaway, picking his spot and scoring one more time.
It was the version of Tippett that's only been seen in spurts the past couple of years; the powerful skater who can bulldoze down the wall and then cut in to fire away just as hard a shot, but just not to the degree of consistency that would have the 26-year-old winger easily clearing the 30-goal barrier if he could reach it.
He had it against the Avalanche, though, and for these next few games and down the stretch, the Flyers need him to keep it.
"I think he's just impacting games more," Sanheim said. "Before, some of it was with the scoring and the speed, but now, I mean, you saw him on the PK there, he's been more physical, using his body, and just in the right spots."
"I just think the last month, he's been one of our best forwards in his ability to transport the puck, which we need, right?" Tocchet said. "He's one of those guys who can do it."
The Flyers have said since the summer that they don't intend to be sellers at the trade deadline this time around. Of course, that didn't mean they were about to be buyers and get reckless in going after rentals for the sake of one playoff appearance, which general manager Danny Brière reiterated after he signed Christian Dvorak to a five-year contract extension a few weeks ago.
Any deal the Flyers would potentially make, Brière said at the time, had to work for the future as much as it would right now.
But as of now, and for later, the Flyers do still need a clear top-six caliber center, and lately, a couple of interesting names have been popping up on the rumor mill for that: Robert Thomas in St. Louis, and Shane Wright in Seattle.
Thomas comes with obvious appeal. He's 26, has produced at over a point-per-game pace for the past two seasons, broke into the league as an immediately contributing piece to the Blues' Stanley Cup run in 2019, and is signed through 2031.
He plays a tough game that still leads to offense, he's in the prime of his career, and the Blues are listening on him. That's a long-term piece that should have the Flyers' interest. (The only catch is he's hurt right now.)
Then there's Wright.
The fourth overall pick to Seattle in the 2022 draft, and for a long time, the consensus No. 1 heading toward that summer, the 22-year-old has had his moments, but hasn't fully found his footing with the Kraken nor lived up to his future star billing.
He did put up 19 goals and 44 points with a plus-4 rating last season, but is at just 7 goals and 18 points through 51 games this year. And with Seattle struggling to just tread water right now, they appear to be considering moving on to find some kind of shakeup.
Wright is still on his rookie contract and has another year on it. He's more of a gamble/slight reclamation project, but between Trevor Zegras and even Sean Walker, though he's on Carolina now, Brière has so far had a solid track record on getting those to pay off.
As far as what the Flyers would have to potentially part with in any deal, they do have a surplus of wing prospects right now, and they can't all make the team.
We'll look more into potential Flyers trade options this week.
Injuries piled on to the Flyers' struggles this month, but it appears that they'll be gaining some strength back in their return home.
Rasmus Ristolainen, after a short stint on Injured Reserve, appears set to return Monday night against the Islanders to bring some size and physicality back to the Flyers' defense, while Dan Vladar, though he'll need one more game, looks set to come back this week, too, both of which are per NBC Sports Philadelphia's Jordan Hall.
"He's pretty close, if we had to, he could have backed up tonight."
— Jordan Hall (@JHallNBCS) January 26, 2026
- Rick Tocchet on Dan Vladar
Tocchet said he's expecting Vladar to play this week. Vladar is recovering from lower-body injury. pic.twitter.com/zYTgCx89Gg
The Flyers will lean on Sam Ersson for one more start Monday night, but to his credit, he was pretty solid against Vegas and Colorado.
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